Undergarment



Sept. 27, 1949. ROCKWELL 2,483,302

UNDERGARMENT Filed March -27, 1947 Zhweutor EILEEN A. RUILKWELL GttomegPatented Sept. 27, 1949 NT QFFICE UNDERGARMENT Eileen A. Rockwell,Bridgeport, Conn., assignor to The La Resista Corset Company,Bridgeport, Cnn., a corporation of Connecticut Application March 27,1947, Serial No. 737,513 2 Claims. (01. 2-4s) The present inventionrelates to an undergarment, particularly a ladies body controllingfoundation garment of bifurcated type. The us- -ual garment of this typehas a tendency to bind,

draw, and twist in the crotch of the garment, es

pecially while walking or climbing, or when assuming forward bending orsitting positions. This condition is espectially aggravated by the factthat such garments include sections of elastic material which extendover the seat area and into the crotch area, the tight fitting of suchgarments causing these portions to chafe the body where there issubstantial relative movement between the surface of the body and theelastic material. provide protective crotch members orinserts to protectthe body against such chafing, but these have beenlargely ineffectual,as they did not extendover a sufiiciently large-area of the affectedparts, and also because of the'fact that in order to provide forconvenient removabality of such members, fastening means were providedwhich were so positioned as to prevent relative movement between thecrotch member'and the elastic fabric of the garment, and also sopositioned that they would chafe and irritate the body.

It is an object'of the present invention to provide a bifurcatedfoundation garment having a crotch member removably attached thereto,and so shaped that efiectual protection is provided between the body andthe elastic portions ofthe garment in the area where substantialrelative movement takes place when different postures are assumed. It isa further object to provide fastening means substantially" removed fromthe parts of the garment where excessive'movement takes place, so thatthe crotch member remains in substantially snug fitting relation againstthe body, permitting the elastic portions to contract and expand inmoving engagement with the crotch member, thus protecting the bodyagainst contact of the elastic portions therewith and irritationtherefrornp It is particularly proposed to provide a crotch member ofdivergent shape toward its forward'and rearward "ends, the for-" vardend being relatively narrow to conform to and engage the forward portionof the body, and the rearward portion being relatively wide to extendfrom the crotch area intothe seat area. It is further proposed toprovide attaching means at the forward and rearward corners of thecrotch member, whereby the holding force of the attaching means willextend substantially along the outer edges of the crotch member and,there- Attempts have been made to.

2 fore, tend to maintain it in smooth fitting engagement with the body.1 a

With the above and other objects in view, an embodiment of the inventionis shown in the accompanying drawings, and this embodiment will behereinafter more fully described with reference thereto, and theinvention will be finally pointed out in the claims.

In the drawings:

Fig. i is a front elevation of an undergarment, according to theillustrated exemplary embodiment of the invention, a portion of thegarment being broken away.

Fig. 2 is a rear elevation, a portion of the garment being broken away.

Fig. 3 is a horizontal sectional view, taken along the line 33 of Fig.1.

Fig. 4 is a vertical sectional view, taken along the line 4-4 of Fig. 1.1

Fig. 5 is aplan view of the crotch member, detached from the garment.

Fig. 6 is a detailed front elevation of one of the attaching hookmembers.

Fig. 7 is a side elevation thereof.

Similar reference characters indicate corresponding parts throughout theseveral figures of the drawings.

Referring to the drawings, the pantie-girdle type of undergarmentillustratedby way of example, and in which the invention isincorporated, is similar to that disclosed in my copending patentapplication for undergarment, Serial No. 671,240, filed May 21, 1946.This garment comprises a front section consisting of a central panelpart Ill, preferably formed of non-elastic fabric, and front parts i|--l l secured to the side edges of the panel It] along seam lines l2l2,and formed of two-way stretch elastic woven material capable of bothhorizontal and vertical stretch. The central'panel it] extends from theupper edge of the garment to the crotch seam, its side edges convergingdownwardly and being curved inwardly to a relatively narrow parallelsided terminal portion adapted to extend into the crotch. The inner sideedges of the front parts l!l Lwhere they are secured along the seamlines !2--l2-, converge downwardly and are curved inwardly, theirrelatively wide lower end portions being extended below the centralpanel to form the forward sides of the leg portions of the garment.

The back: section of the garment comprises a central back panel I 3having its upper edge substantially in the region of the waistline, itsside edges diverging downwardly from the upper edge to pointssubstantially in lie with the hips and thereupon curving inwardly alonga rear seat portion to a relatively narrow convergent terminal end whichextends forwardly in the crotch and is secured to the lower terminal endof the front panel at the transverse crotch seam It. The back sectionfurther comprises upper side parts I5-I5 of non-elastic fabric materialsecured at their outer side edges along seam lines I 6-I 6 to the sideedges of the front parts I I-I I and at their inner side edges alongseam lines I 'I-II to the side edges of the back panel I-Sgthese seamsbeing non-elastic.

The lower edges of the side parts I 5-I5 are inclined downwardly andoutwardly between the seam lines I! and i6, and are secured along seamlines I8I8 to the upper edges of substantially triangular shaped insertmembers I9-! 9 formed of two-way stretch elastic material, the innerside edges of these insert members being concavely curved and securedalong seam lines 28-20 to the side edges of the back panel from apointsubstantially at the hip line downwardly to a point outwardly ofthe crotch-and rearwardly spaced a substantial distance from the crotchseam I4. The weave of the back panel I4 is disposed substantiallyhorizontally and vertically, while the weave of the insert members I9 isdisposed diagonally so that the threads in one direction aresubstantially tangential to the curved lines of the edges of the backpanel along the seam lines 2Il20, and as these seam lines are made withstretchable stitching, maximum elasticity is provided along these seamlines.

The lower edges of the insert members are in transverse linessubstantially parallel to the lower edges of the leg portions and aresecured along seam lines 2I2I to the upper edges of the back leg parts22-22, which are constructed of non-elastic fabric material and havetheir outer side edges secured along the seam lines l 5 I6 to the outerside edges of the lower leg portions of the front parts I I--I I. Azipper-type fastener 23 is provided along one of the seam lines I6extending downwardly/from the top edge'partially along one of the backsections I5.

The crotch insert member 24, according to the invention, is ofsubstantially hour-glass form, its forward straight edge 25, however,being narrower than its rearward inwardly arched edge 26, and

the side edges 2'I-2'I being curved inwardly between the front and rearedges so that they converge toward each other at the intermediateportion of the member. The insert member is preferably constructed of athin, soft, woven material, as for instance, jersey cloth, and the weaveis so arranged in the member that it has a predominance of stretch in atransverse or crosswise direction. The member may be of one thickness ofmaterial, or of a plurality of thicknesses, as desired, and the edgesare preferably finished by a finishing seam as shown. At each of thefour corners there is provided a projected loop member 28, formed oftape or the like, for the purpose of detachably connecting the member inthe garment, as will presently more fully appear.

The insert member is positioned in the garment with its narrow forwardedge disposed at the inner side of the lower converging portion of the"front panel 1 0, and is secured by means of hook members 29 connectedby tapes 3!! to the side seams of the front panel, the loop members 28at the front of the crotch insert member being engaged with these hookmembers. As shown in Figs. 6 and 7, these hook members are preferablyfiat and formed of plastic or similar material, and are detachable fromthe loop members 30 by means of an entrance slot 3I extending to theslot 32 engaged by the loop member 30. This type of hook member is verylight in construction, lies flat between the body and the garmentwithout appreciable bulging, and may be readily disconnected forlaundering purposes. The narrow forward portion of the crotch insertmember substantially conforms to the shape of the lower portion of thefront panel ID, the convergent intermediate portion extends along thecrotch portion of the garment, and the relatively wide rearward portionextends upwardly into the scat 'portionof the garment, its rearwardcorners being connected by the loops 28 to hook member 29 secured bytapes 30 to the side seams of the back panel substantially at thejunction points between the elastic seams 20 and the non-elastic seamsI'I. These securing points, as well as the securing points of .the'frontend of the insert, are at points in the garment where no appreciablerelative movement takes place between the girdle and the body of thewearer upon assuming different postures, the relative movement takingplace along the seam lines 2fl--'20 and within'the lower seat area inlateral line therewith. The insert crotch member ;is :so disposed thatthese relatively movable portions are entirely protected against contactwith the skin, and due to the relatively non-elastic nature of theinsert in a front to rear direction, the insert remains in substantiallyfixed relation upon the body as a protecting shield, while the elasticportions of the garment may have relative movement with respect to theinsert member. The insert member follows the natural lines of thegarment and the body, and "as the fastening means are entirely removedfrom points where 'excessive'movement between the body :and the garmenttakes place, there is no irritation from such fastening means. Thesuspension of the crotch member at its four corners-from relative fixedpoints in the garment, in cooperation with the arrangement of thematerial so that its predominance of stretch is crosswise, maintains thecrotch member in smooth relation and eliminates, to a large extent, thetendency to stretch and wrinkle in a front to-rear direction.

'Ihave illustrated-and described a preferred and satisfactory embodimentof the invention, but it will be understood that changes may be madetherein, within the spirit and scope thereof, as defined in the appendedclaims.

What is claimed is:

1. For use 'in a bifurcated 'undergarm'ent including a front section, aback section, and a crotch, a crotch insert member having a transversefront' edge, a transverse rear edge, and inwardly curved side edges,said rear edge being substantially longer than said front edge, saidcrotch member being formed of woven fabric material having greaterstretch transversely of said member than longitudinally thereof, theforward corners of said crotch insert member being connected interiorlyof said front section at points upwardly and forwardly spaced from thecrotch and its rearward corners being connected interiorly of said backsection at points upwardly and rearwardly spaced from the crotch andsubstantially co-incident with the hip line.

2. For use in a bifurcated undergarment .including a front section, aback section, and .a crotch, a crotch insert member having a transversefront edge, a transverse rear edge, and'inwardly curved side edges, saidrear edge being REFERENCES CITED substantially longer than said frontedge, the forward corners of said crotch insert member being s agg ggfgg are of record m the connectable interiorly of said front section atpoints upwardly and forwardly spaced from the 5 UNITED STATES PATENTScrotch and its rearward corners being connect- Number Name Date ableinteriorly of said back section at points up- 2 016 355 Alsop Oct 8 1935wardly and rearwardly spaced from the crotch 2:099:541 spam andsubstantially co-incident with the hip line.

EILEEN A. ROCKWELL. 10

